Machine for operating upon heels.



I. E. FLETCHER. MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON HEELS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1911.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

2 SHEBTS-SHBET l.

I. E. FLETCHER. MACHINE FOB. OPERATING UPON HEELS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.9,1911.

1,13%,@U Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

2 .SHEETSSHBET 2.

part-an arenas 113A E. FLETCHER, OF MANCHESTER, NEW MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON JERSEY.

Application filed September 9, 1911.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that 1,1RA E. FLETCHER, a citizen "of the United States, residing at Manchester, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Operat- 7 ing Upon Heels, of whichthe following deknife trembles slightly with the result that the corners of the breasted heel'present a more or less wavy contour. Aside from this tendency of the heel breasting knife to tremble it also frequently happens that the knife bends or twists slightly so that the i corners of the breasted heel are not prop erly located with respect to the medial line to.

of the sole; and this torsional movement of the knifemay or may not be accompanied by the trembling movement referred to above. In either case it is desirable to bring the corners of the heel into a common plane properly located with respect to the medial line of the sole; and, if said corners present a wavy contour, to straighten or trim them at the same time. Hitherto it has been customary for an operator to trim such corners and bring them into the proper plane by drawing a flat-faced file across them; This operation, however, is slow and inaccurate, and one object-of the present invention is to provide a machine by. which the straightening operation or the operation of bringing the corners into the desired plane or both operations may be rapidly and accurately performed.

It sometimes happens that at the junction of the corners of the heel with the sole'there are left pronounced burs or bunches pf untrod material; and hitherto this nine Specification of Letters Extent.

HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE NEW JERSEY, A COBPOEATIGN OE 'NEVJ MAGI-TINE FOR OPERATING- UPON .HEELS.

Patented ltflar. to, 3M5. Serial no. 548,507.

terial has commonly been removed by a knife in the hand of the operator. Tn order to facilitate this operation another ob ect of this invention is to provide a machine for removing this bur or bunch; and

in the illustrative machine this operation is performed simultaneously with the operations which have been referred to above.

These and other features of the invention including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be described in connection with an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings: Figure l is an elevation of a. machine in which the present invention is embodied; Fig. 2 is a perspective of a portion of the machine with a shoe shown in dotted lines in the position which it occupies while being operated upon; Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modified form of machine in which there is provision for adjustment of the v tools; Fig. 4 is a perspective of i a modified form of tool; and

Fig. 5 1s a perspective of a portion of a shoe showing its appearance after the operation.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the operating means is shown as two tools 1 which are identical in construction and are so arranged that certain respective localities on the tools lie in a common plane. The illustrative tools are shown as fiat-faced disks having disk-shaped pieces of abrasive material 3 clamped to their inner faces by means of nuts 7, washers 9, and collars 11,

said collars being fast to shafts 13 upon the ends of which the nuts are threaded, the disks being clamped upon the shafts by the same means which holds the abrasive material fast to the disks. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the disks are so arranged that their operative faces lie in a .common plane; but this is not essential, as

so long as properly.

will presently appear, located linear localities on the respective tools lie in such a plane. The shafts 13 are rotatably mounted in the frame 15 and are shown as having their axes parallel.

The upper shaft carries a pulley 17 to which.

power may be applied by any convenient means, as for example a belt19; and the shafts connected so to be rotated. in

opposite directions by pulleys 21 and a crossed belt 23. The frame 15 is bolted to a base 25, and its forward post is provided with a slot 27 through which extends the stem of a clamping screw 29, said screw being threaded into a bracket 31. This bracket is provided with a bore to receive aworkrest 33 which is adjustably held in place by nuts 35 threaded upon the lower end of said rest; and this Work-rest is so adjusted that it guides the shoe to the tools with the longitudinal axis of the shoe midway between said tools.

The operation of the machine as thus far describedis as follows: The work-rest 33 18 adjusted vertically so as to position the heel of the shoe midway between the tools, and power is applied to the belt 19. The shoe is then presented in the manner indicated in Fig. 2 and advanced in a direction transverse to the axes of the tools until the whole extent of each corner of the heel has been operated upon. The finishedheel then presents the appearance shown in Fig. 5 in which the surfaces produced by the operation of the machine. are indicated at 50. It will now be clear that neither the number of tools shown nor their particular shape is essential and that any properly arranged means having suitable actuating mechanism may be used. In order, however, to facilitate proper presentation of the shoe a guide in the form of an upright rod 37 is provided, said rod having a bent lower end which extends loosely through ears 39 and has threaded thereon an adjusting nut 41 and a set nut 43. This'guide facilitates the presentation of a shoe by contacting with the sole and thereby insuring that the heel 40 shall be presented at the proper angle to the operating means. Aside from the straightening of the corners of the heel and the bringing of them into the desired plane, it should be noted that in case there is a bunch or bur of untrimmed material at the junction of said corners with the face of the sole the disks, simultaneously with the other operation, willvremove it thereby leaving the shoe in proper condition for the subsequent jointing operationJ With shoes having undercut heels and particularly when the breast is sharply concave it is desirable that the tools be inclined; and in Fig. 3 the tools 1 are fast to short shafts which are connected by universal joints 101 with the parallel shafts 113, said parallel shafts being driven in the'manner shown. The shafts 100 are mounted in bearings 103 which are held in adjusted angular position by means of thumb screws 105 the stems of which extend through properly curved segmental slots 107 in the frame and are threaded into the bearings. The construction of the work-rest is identical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 except that the bracket 131 is somewhat'longer to common sate for the increased eifective length of the tool shafts.

In Fig. 4 a modified form of tool is shown vknives to reach the bases of the corners of the. heel at their junction with the sole.

Although the invention has been set forth in connection with certain machines it should be understood that these are purely illustrative and that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machines which have been shown and described.

Having fully described my invention, what i 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters latentof the United States is 1. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a plurality of rotary tools and a work-rest arranged to support a shoe with the corners of its heel simultaneously in contact with localities on said tools which lie in a common plane.

2. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a plurality of rotary tools and a work-rest arranged to support a shoe with the corners of its heel simultane ously in contact with localities on said tools which lie in a common plane, there being provision for varying the inclination of the axes of said tools.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a plurality of tools the operative faces of which lie in a common plane, there being a free and unobstructed space adjacent said faces to permit a shoe to be presented with the corners of its heel snnultaneously in contact with said tools, and means for rotatmg said tools.

4:. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a plurality of tools havsaid tools in inclined position to accommodate undercut heels.

5. A machine of the class described havng, in combination, a plurality of tools having flat faces and a work-rest for supporting a shoe with the corners of its heel in contact with said faces.

6. A machine of the class described, havng, in combination, a plurality of tools havmg flat faces, a work-rest for. supporting a shoe with the corners of its heel in contact with said faces, and a guide arranged for contact with the sole.

7. machine of the class described havmg, in combination, a plurality of rotary v tools having their axes located in a common plane, and'a work-rest for supporting a shoe with the corners of its heel simultaneously in contact with said tools, there being provision for adjusting the axes of said tools singularly in said plane.

8. A machine of the class described havcOR'lbiIlSiZlOH, a plurality of flat-faced tools, means for holding said tools with their axes in inclined relation to each other,

there being a free and unobstructed space adjacent said faces to permit a shoe to be presented with the breast edge corners of its heel simultaneously in contact with said be Varied, there being a tree and unobstructed space adjacent said tools to permit manual presentation of the heel of a shoe, and means for rotating said tools.

10. A machine of the class described haying, in combination, a plurality of thin, fiat circular tools arranged to operate simultaneously upon the burs at the bases of the breast edge corners of a heel, there being a tree and unobstructed space adjacent said tools to permit manual presentation of the shoe, and means for rotating said tools.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

, IRA E. FLETCHER. Witnesses IRVING F'Fonnns, ALGERNON W. MATTHEWS, Cannon, '1. KING.

demise of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "fiemmissioner of Eatcnts,

Washington, D, G. i 

